Quenching die



6 P. F. ROSSBACH 3,334,882

QUENCHING DIE Filed June 18, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 1 M

Aug. 8, 1967 P. ROSSBACH QUENCHiNG DIE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 18, 1964 INVENTdR.

BYS 7vw, Jaw;

Aug. 8, 1967 P. F. ROSSBACH 3,334,382

' QUENCHING DIE Filed June 18, 1964 5 SheetsSheet s Aug. 8, 1967 Filed June 18, 1964 P. F. ROSSBACH QUENCHING DIE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

Aug. 8, 1967 P. F. ROSSBACH QUENCHING DIE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 18, 1964 INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,334,882 QUENCHING DIE Paul F. Rosshach, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Eaton Yale & Towne Inc., a corporation of Ohio Filed June 18, 1964, Ser. No. 376,127 8 Claims. (Cl. 266-6) This invention relates to improvements in a quenching die for quenching heat treated gears and like parts, and more particularly to an improvement in a quenching die for quenching articles having two concentric surfaces of different diameters, which form a stepped inner surface. These improvements are readily adapted for use in qunching internal and/or bevel gears having two such con centric surfaces.

Radial distortion is critical in the production of gears such as internal and/ or bevel gears. The quenched gear is taken and put into an abrasive bath with a mating gear, generally termed a lapping operation. As the gears are driven together in this mating relation, the .abrasive wears away the rough and high spots which keep the gears from meshing properly and resulting in noisy gear operation. Radial distortion is largely responsible for causing these high and low spots. The longer the gears are driven in this bath, the better the gears will mesh. When this process is completed, the mating gears are kept together and used together. If two badly distorted gears are placed into an abrasive bath, the process by which they become mated may prove time consuming and may possibly ruin both gears. Therefore, reducing or substantially eliminating any distortion, especially radial distortion of the gears during the quenching operation is very important in the overall production of well meshing and eflicient gears.

In the past, the articles having two concentric surfaces of different diameters which form a stepped inner surface or gears to be quenched have been held axially in qunching position while expandible segments have held one of the concentric surfaces; namely, the lower concentric surface to prevent radial distortion. The other surface, namely, the upper concentric surface is axially clamped to prevent radial distortion. It has been found that these means are not sufficient to prevent radial distortion of the upper concentric surface. This upper concentric surface must also have radial pressure exerted on it to prevent distortion. Other methods for clamping the surfaces have also been tried, but have proved to be so cumbersome that insertion of the gear into the machine has proven to be too diflicult and time consuming to be practical. The principal object of this invention solves this problem by providing a novel and simple way of holding the gear axially while exerting pressure on both upper and lower concentric surfaces to prevent minimum radial distortion of the article or gear.

The object of this invention is the provision of a new and improved quenching die assembly for maintaining axially spaced concentric surfaces of different diameters in a fixed relationship with respect to each other to prevent distortion thereof as the article shrinks during cooling.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention then consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, the following description and annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but a few of the various forms in which the principal of this invention may be employed.

In the annexed drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a typical quenching press.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of the quenching die assembly showing the specific embodiments of this invention, that is, the upper and lower expanding annuli and the floating cone.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the lower expanding annulus showing the plurality of individual radially movable annular segments.

FIGURE 4 is a top view of the upper expanding annulus showing the plurality of individual radially movable annular segments.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the upper expanding annulus in the plane indicated by the line 5--5 of FIG- URE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a top view of the floating double cone from the plane indicated by the line 66 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view of the floating cone in the plane indicated by the line 7--7 of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a top view of the supporting flange collar to which the upper annular segments are movably attached from the plane indicated by the line 88 of FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view of the supporting flange collar in the plane indicated by the line 9-9 of FIG- URE 8.

FIGURE 10 is a plan view of the lower expanding annulus showing the plurality of individual radially movable annular segments.

Briefly stated, this invention is an improvement in a quenching die assembly for quenching articles which have two concentric surfaces of different diameters which form a stepped inner surface. This die assembly has opposed, relatively movable upper and lower die subassemblies which when in closed position axially confine the article to prevent distortion while quenching fluid freely circulates over the article. This die assembly also has opening and closing means for relatively moving the upper and lower die subassemblies along a common vertical axis. In accordance herewith, there is provided an upper.

expandible annulus formed from a plurality of individual radially movable annular segments adapted to compressively engage one of the concentric surfaces to prevent radial distortion thereof, and a lower expandible annulus formed from a plurality of individual radially movable annular segments adapted to compressively engage the other concentric surface to prevent its radial distortion independently of the upper annulus. Also provided are means for exerting radial force on each of the upper and lower annuli.

Referring more particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the annexed drawings, the quenching press 10 therein illustrated comprises basically a rigid frame structure 11 upon which is mounted the lower die subassembly 12 and an upper die subassembly 13. The lower die subassembly comprises 'a support plate 14 which is mounted for horizontal translatory movement between the forward gear loading and unloading position, and a rear operative position coaxially aligned beneath the upper die subassembly 13 and a lower die member 15 composed of annular gear supporting die segments 16. The support plate 14 has an annular aperture 17 which is adapted to receive the gear supporting die segments 16. These'gear supporting die segments 16 at their inner extremities are adapted to coact with a flanged sleeve 18, having a center bore 19 which is adapted to receive and guide a movable shaft 21 which is secured to the piston 32. The lower die member 15 has an inner annular recess 22 which is adapted to seat a lower expandible annulus 23 in its most expanded position. The upper die subassembly 13 comprises a main hydraulically or pneumatically actuated backing plate or rim 24 and an upper die member 25. The upper die member 25 is secured within an annular recess 29 of the backing plate 24 by circumferentially spaced fastening means, e.g. bolts 26. The annular rim portion 27 of the upper die member 25 has a curved n) extremity 28 which is adapted to coact with a variety of angularly faced gears.

The quenching press is an automatically cycling machine. After the gear to be quenched has been placed upon the lower side subassem-bly 12 and the cycle of operation initiated, the lower die subassembly is moved to the rear to a position coaxially beneath the upper die subassembly 13. The upper die sub assembly is then lowered under hydraulic or pneumatic pressure to the position shown in FIGURE 2. A shroud 71 is disposed in contiguous relationship with upper die subassembly 13 and is simultaneously raised and lowered therewith. A flexible seal 72 positioned adjacent the terminus of shroud 71 effects a fluid tight seal with support plate 14, whereby upper die subassembly 13, support plate 14 and shroud 71 cooperate to form a fluid tight chamber 73 enveloping the gear to be quenched. This chamber is then flooded in any manner with oil, water or other suitable quenching fluid. After the initial flooding of the chamber 73 defined by the lower and upper die subassemblies 12 and 13, respectively, and shroud 71, quenching fluid is continuously introduced into the bottom of the lower die subassembly 12 through passageways located in said die subassembly at a predetermined rate in accordance with the rate of cooling by the gear desired. The gear 31 is axially clamped between the lower die member 15 and the upper die member in a quenching position until the gear is cooled to a temperature in which it may be readily handled. The quenching fluid is then exhausted from the chamber defined by shroud 71 and the lower and upper die subassemblies 12 and 13, respectively. The shroud 71 and upper die su-bassembly 13 are then raised under hydraulic or pneumatic pressure and the upper die subassembly 12 moved to its position shown in FIGURE 1 to permit removal of the quenched gear 31. The lower die subassembly 12 is then reloaded with the next gear to be quenched.

The movable shaft 21 at its upper extremity is threadably secured to a pneumatically or hydraulically operated piston in the cylinder generally indicated at 32 A flanged supporting collar 33 concentric with the movable shaft 21 is also secured to said piston, either threadably or by any suitable fastening means. A plurality of radially extending recesses, for example, recesses 35 and 36 (FIG- URES 2, 8 and 9) are located in the flanged portion 34 of the collar 33. In each of said recesses is secured a T-shaped annulus supporting bar 37 by suitable fastening means, e.g. bolts 38. The upper extending annulus 41 (FIGURES 2, 4 and 5) is composed of a plurality of radially expanding segments, for example, segments 42 and 43. Provided in the upper surface of each of these segments are complementary, radially extending T-shaped recesses, which are adapted to slidably coact with corresponding T-shaped support bars 37 secured to the flange 34 of collar 33, for example, the recesses 44 and 45 of the segments 42 and 43, respectively, slidably coact with the T-shaped support bars 37, which are secured in the recesses 35 and 36 of the flanged supporting collar 33 by suitable fastening means; for example, bolts 38. The circumferential surface of each of these segments of annulus 41 has thereon a pair of similar curved vertically extending indents, each of which communicates with a radially extending recess, for example, indents 46 of segment 42 communicate with recesses 47 of segment 42. These pairs of recesses and indents are used to circulate the quenching fluid through the upper expandible annulus 41. It should also be noted that the quenching fluid can freely circulate around the segments of said upper and lower annuli when said annuli are in their expanded position. The segments of the annulus 41 are radially held in position by a circumferentially extended spring 48, which is supported in a circumferential groove 49 of the annulus 41. The upper expanding annulus 41 has an inner circumferential diverging surface 51 which diverges towards the lower annulus 23, and which is adapted to slidably coact with a complementary upper diverging outer surface 52 of the floating cone 53 as best seen in FIGURES 2, 6 and 7. The lower portion of the floating cone 53 has a converging outer surface 54 which converges towards the lower annulus 23 and which slidably coacts with a complementary inner circumferential converging surface 55 of the lower expanding annulus 23 (FIGURES 2 and 3). The lower expanding annulus 23 is composed of a plurality of radially expanding segments, for example, segments 56 and 57, as seen in FIGURE 3. These segments are radially held in position by a circumferentially extended spring 58 which is supported in a circumferential groove 61 of the lower expanding annulus 23. The floating cone 53 may axially slide or rotate freely on the shaft 21. In this particular embodiment of the invention, however, a pin 62 extending through a transversely bored hole 63 (FIGURES 2 and 6) in the floating cone 53 coacts with a recess 64 on the shaft 21 to keep the floating cone 53 from rotating about the shaft 21. This pin 62 also limits the vertical movernent of the floating cone 53 on the shaft 21. The upper extremity of the floating cone 53 has a plurality of circumferentially spaced apertures, for example, apertures 65, 66, 67 and 68 in FIGURE 6. These apertures have coil springs 74 positioned therein (FIGURE 2) which effect a positive surface contact between oblique surfaces 54 and 55 during the initial downward positioning of cone 53. The springs 74 are compressed by the descent of collar 33 which creates an axial force upon cone 53 which facilitates a positioning of oblique surfaces 54 and 55 in intimate contact with one another.

An axial force applied to the supporting collar 33 by the piston in the cylinder 32 is transmitted to the slidably attached upper expanding annulus 41 forcing said annulus downward until it coacts with the floating cone 53. As the complementary diverging surfaces 51 and 52 of the annulus 41 and the floating cone 53, respectively, meet this axial force is transformed into radial force exerted against each of the expandible segments of the upper expanding annulus 41 and axial force exerted upon the upper surface of the floating cone 53. The lower converging surface 54 of the floating cone 53 coacting with the complementary converging inner circumferential surface 55 of the lower expanding annulus 23 transforms this axial force exerted upon said floating cone 53 into radial force exerted against each of the expandible segments of said lower annulus 23. Radial force is thus independently exerted against the upper and lower expanding annuli. The upper and lower annuli, in turn, independently exert radial force or pressure against each of the two concentric stepped surfaces of the article or gear 31. The article or gear 31 is also axially clamped between the upper die member 25 and the lower die member 15. The use of these upper and lower expanding annuli in the above mentioned manner constitutes a much improved method of holding articles or gears having concentric stepped surfaces or different diameters during a quenching operation. Radial distortion of such articles or gears has been substantially eliminated.

Other modes of applying the principle of this invention may be employed instead of those specifically set forth above, changes being made as regards the details herein disclosed, provided the elements set forth in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

It is, therefore, particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed as the invention:

1. A quenching die assembly for quenching articles having concentric cylindrical surfaces of different diameters comprising in combination:

(a) a reciprocable shaft;

(b) means for reciprocating said shaft;

(c) relatively movable upper and lower die subassemblies disposed about said shaft and adapted when in a position to confine said article to prevent distortion thereof while permitting the free circulation of quenching fluid over said article;

(d) means for relatively moving the upper and lower die su'bassemblies;

(e) an upper annulus support secured to said shaft adjacent the means for reciprocating said shaft;

(f) an upper expandible annulus disposed about said shaft, formed from a plurality of radially movable annular segments slidably suspended from said support and having their inner surfaces adjacent the shaft diverging in a direction away from said support, and their outer surfaces adapted to engage one of the surfaces of said article to prevent radial distortion thereof;

(g) a lower expandible annulus supported on a lower die member and disposed about shaft, formed from a plurality of individually radially movable annular segments having their inner surfaces adjacent the shaft, diverging in a direction away from said lower die member, and their outer surfaces adapted to engage the other surface of said article to prevent radial distortion thereof;

(h) a floating member slidably mounted on said shaft for relative movement thereon between the upper and lower annuli, the member being a pair of frustoconical members disposed in a base-to-base relationship having a bore for slidably receiving said shaft, the upper surface of the floating member converging in a direction towards the upper annulus for coaction with the complementary inner surface of the upper annulus, and the lower surface of the floating member converging in a direction towards the lower annulus for coaction with the complementary inner surface of the lower annulus;

(i) means for restricting movement of the floating member relative to the shaft; and

(j) biasing means coacting between said support and said floating member for initially positioning the floating member relative to the lower annulus.

2. In a quenching die assembly for quenching articles having radial surfaces of different diameters comprising opposed relatively movable upper and lower die subassemblies adapted when in a closed position to axially confine such article to prevent distortion thereof during quenching while permitting the free circulation of quench ing fluid over such article, and closing and opening means for relatively moving said upper and lower die subassemly along a common axis, the improvement which comprises:

upper and lower expandible annulus means formed from a plurality of individually radially movable annular segments normally spaced from said article and adapted to compressibly engage first and second internal radial surfaces respectively of said article to prevent radial distortion thereof during quenching,

said upper expandible :annulus means adapted to be moved by said closing and opening means along said common axis,

said upper and lower expandible annulus means each having a central opening with circumferential surfaces diverging outwardly relative said opening toward the other annulus means,

a floating cone member having diverging circumferential surfaces interposed between said upper and lower expandible annulus means to effect outward radial movement of said annular segments into engagement with said article surfaces upon movement of said die subassemblies to said closed position.

3. The quenching die assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein:

the upper expandible annulus means is moved radially outwardly prior to the lower expandible annulus means into engagement with said article surfaces. 4. The quenching die assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein:

the radially movable annular segments are radially held in relative position to one another by a spring supported in a circumferential groove of the segments. 5. The quenching die assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said closing and opening means includes a hydraulically operated piston having secured thereto a flanged supporting collar, said collar and said upper expandible annulus means interconnected to provide for guided radial movement of said upper annulus segments. 6. The quenching die assembly as set forth in claim 5 wherein:

coil spring means are positioned between said flange supporting collar and said floating cone member which effects an instantaneous engagement of said cone and lower expandible annulus means circumferential surfaces upon movement of said closing and opening means. 7. The quenching die assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein:

said upper and lower expandible annulus means have communicating recesses and indentations for circulation of quenching fluid therethrough. 8. The quenching die assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein:

the radial movement of each of said upper and lower expandible annulus means is independent of each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,494,984- 1/ -0 Bauer 266-6 2,812,186 11/1957 Carlsen et al 2792 2,914,311 11/1959 Yarne 266-6 3,007,823 11/1961 Adair et al. 2'666 X 3,009,747 11/ 1961 Pi-tzer 270--2 X 3,131,955 5/1964 Kopec 2792 X 3,172,787 3/1965 Martenet 148-131 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,016,851 9/1952 France.

I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner. J, D, HOBART, R. S, ANNEAR, Assistant Examiner, 

2. IN A QUENCHING DIE ASSEMBLY FOR QUENCHING ARTICLES HAVING RADIAL SURFACES OF DIFFERENT DIAMETERS COMPRISING OPPOSED RELATIVELY MOVABLE UPPER AN LOWER DIE SUBASSEMBLIES ADAPTED WHEN IN A CLOSED POSITION TO AXIALLY CONFINE EACH ARTICLE TO PREVENT DISTORTION THEREOF DURING QUENCHING WHILE PERMITTING THE FREE CIRCULATION OF QUENCHING FLUID OVER SUCH ARTICLE, AND CLOSING AND OPENING MEANS FOR RELATIVELY MOVING SAID UPPER AND LOWER DIE SUBASSEMBLY ALONG A COMMON AXIS, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES: UPPER AND LOWER EXPANDIBLE ANNULUS MEANS FORMED FROM A PLURALITY OF INDIVIDUALLY RADIALLY MOVABLE ANNULAR SEGMENTS NORMALLY SPACED FROM SAID ARTICLE AND ADAPTED TO COMPRESSIBLY ENGAGE FIRST AND SECOND INTERNAL RADIAL SURFACES RESPECTIVELY O SAID ARTICLE TO PREVENT RADIAL DISTORTION THEREOF DURING QUENCHING, SAID UPPER EXPANDIBLE ANNULUS MEANS ADAPTED TO BE MOVED BY SAID CLOSING AND OPENING MEANS ALONG SAID COMMON AXIS, SAID UPPER AND LOWER EXPANDIBLE ANNULUS MEANS EACH HAVING A CENTRAL OPENING WITH CIRCUMFERENTIAL SURFACES DIVERGING OUTWARDLY RELATIVE SAID OPENING TOWARD THE OTHER ANNULUS MEANS, A FLOATING CONE MEMBER HAVING DIVERGING CIRUCUMFERENTIAL SURFACES INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID UPER AND LOWER EXPANDIBLE ANNULUS MEANS TO EFFECT OUTWARD RADIAL MOVEMENT OF SAID ANNULAR SEGMENTS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID ARTICLE SURFACES UPON MOVEMENT OF SAID DIE SUBASSEMBLIES TO SAID CLOSED POSITION. 